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There are only two types of points: am points and pro points. You earn Am points when playing any am division you are allowed to enter and pro points when playing in any pro division you are allowed to enter. Your invite to Worlds is based on how many am or pro points you've earned regardless what division you earned them. Typically, you earn more points in the higher level Am divisions than in age based divisions primarily because there are more players in them. The players who enter these higher level am divisions to earn more points may have never entered their age based division during the year except in high tier events and Worlds. Here are the criteria for getting invited to World this year:

Do I need to play in an age protected division to get points for worlds in that division? No. Like Chuck said, there are only pro and am points, not divisional points.

Do wins matter or only total points? For a Worlds invitation, only points.

Not many play in the age divisions here,how does that affect invites? Your age division qualified players are probably getting more points if they play in the division indicated by their rating than if they were playing in smaller age limited divisions. So, if your TDs don't offer the age limited divisions, or if no one plays in them, it makes for more points for everyone by putting more players in the Am1, Am2 and Am3 divisions.

Points are bragging rights and not much more (unless your last name is Brakel, in which case points are building blocks toward Obelisks. The Brakels own more Obelisks than most people have socks) An invite to Worlds is an honor and not much more.

I don't believe there has ever been a PDGA World Championships, Am or Pro where a member in good standing could not get in, no matter how many points they had, so long as they jumped through the hoops in a timely manner (signed up on the waiting list, etc.).

A Worlds invite is time sensitive and far more players are invited than spots exist in the field. After the invites expire the field is opened up to the membership in differing ways from year to year.

A Worlds invite is also not division specific. So you could earn all your points in one division (Pro Open) but play in another (Pro Master) so long as you qualify for the division. Normally points do not transfer between Am and Pro (so an invite to Am Worlds does guarantee a spot in Pro Worlds) but it doesn't really matter because you can still get in anyway.

Maybe the day will come when the field for Worlds will fill with invitees. If so probably because the host site has few courses and limits the field.

If anything I have reported is no longer true then either Bruce or Chuck will correct me, no doubt.

This could be the year some divisions could max out before it's open to everyone. GM Pro and Adv GM are both capped at 72 and I believe have a shot at filling just from invitees. Better make sure to get your entry sent before May, Mark.

2012 Am Worlds has pretty much filled on invitations. Except for juniors and maybe old ladies, all of the divisions have filled. If you want to play, get on the waiting list. With it filling so early, not every wait listed player will get in.